


A Guardian

by marreena



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Gen, Julia Lives (Sort of?), TAZ Lady Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-25 07:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9808736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marreena/pseuds/marreena
Summary: She will not die like this: not having done enough, not having explored enough, not having fought enough.





	

**Author's Note:**

> so I see y'all's Julia Lives AU and I raise you a Julia still dies but comes back Better Than Ever

When Julia dies, all she can think about is the pain. 

It is not poetic and she does not think of his face one last time, of what she would whisper one last thing to him if he were here, of how she would cup his face one last time, sideburns and all.

No, she dies screaming, her chest ripped open by a sword. 

It was a slaughter was all she could think about before she died. Seeing the fires and the mercenaries descend on Raven Roost, on _her home_. How this was a goddamn slaughter and that they did not have a chance. All of these people did not have a chance even after fighting for so long. 

Hell if she was going to die like this, slaughtered like nothing more than pig. For her people, she was going to fight until they killed her and maybe if she goes like that then some people can get out. They deserve to live after all they had done during the revolution. 

Her arm burns as she swings her sword—it’s been so long since she’s had to really use it. Only briefly does she wonder where her father is and is sick when she thinks that, perhaps, he’s already gone.

Some buildings start to crumble and she cries out when someone gets a lucky stab at her. Her side blossoms open a deep red, staining her cotton night shirt. Julia looks out at the burning buildings and furiously fights back because this is not what the people of Raven Roost deserve. They had fought so hard for so long and for it to be just ripped away by a dirty trick like _this_. 

Magnus should not have to come home to this. 

Just like the Craftsman Corridor around her, she collapses as a great sword rips through her chest. 

She dies and all she can think about is the overwhelming burning and the blood choking her even as she lays on the ground.

And like that she dies. Just another body that people stumble over, trying to fight, trying to escape. She can see her own body now, twisted and broken and she lets out a sob because she isn’t _dying_ , she _is dead_. Even though she is dead, she can still sob and she thought that when she died that the pain would go away, but she still feels as though she’s burning and twisting.

She will not die like this: not having done enough, not having explored enough, not having fought enough. 

Julia thinks for a moment that if she pushes hard enough that she can get back to her body, she can feel the tug on her that’s pulling her back into whatever, but she _pushes_. If something wants to claim her soul from her body they will have to drag her bloodied from it. 

The burning ebbs and is replaced with a soft warmth as she feels almost arms wrapping around her middle. A calm settling over her, urging to stop fighting against the natural order. 

Her world disappears in a flash, and she appears in white space and then it slowly fills in as if it were not sure if she should really have permission to see what was in front of her. Slowly, she can move again and it seems in this place that she does in fact have some sort of body—thankfully, not split in two. 

She sees a woman with dark skin that seems to have constellations shimmering on it. A couple of starts flicker across her skin and she recognizes it as the night sky above Raven Roost and she shudders, unable to stop herself, and collapses to her knees. 

She _died_. 

Her sobs choke her and she can still taste the coppery blood on her tongue, coating each ragged breath. She looks up at the goddess or _whatever_  she may be, tears streaming down her face. “Please,” she begs. “Please, let me go back. I—“ they need her. She needs to stop the slaughter. She needs to hold Magnus one last time. “ _Please_.” 

The goddess shifts and sinks to her knees in front of her and her breath catches again but for a different reason. Something deep inside of her shudders at the thought of a god kneeling before her and like she were familiar with Julia, she cups her cheek. “I can’t let you go back.” 

She shakes in her hold and does not make an attempt to stop, “ _Please_ , those people—“ 

She goes rigid the moment the goddess’ lips brush her forehead, a chill sinks through her until it is rushed out by an incomparable warmth setting her alight. “You have so much left to give.” 

“I do so let me go back!”

Her eyes soften at Julia’s protest, “I cannot let you change fate, however. As cruel as it was, it needed to happen. I will not let you change fate—that would be counter productive to what I do.” 

She waits until her shudders stop and she looks back up at her and it is almost like she cannot focus on the woman—her body, her skin, her hair always shifting in the etherial light. “I can offer you something, however. A retribution of sorts because you are right. You did die too young and you still have so much to give.”

“What do you want me to do?” she asks and she knows she should be more wary. Even in death, making such a deal could be horrible—if she was even a goddess and not just some demon. 

She should be more wary, more scared, but she sinks into the hands that are wiping away her tears, desperately needing the comfort. “Fight for me. Fight for those who corrupt fate and time. Time is being tampered with right now and I have no way to fight against it. People are harmed everyday and you could protect them. I need a Guardian.” 

Before the goddess can even finish, she answers, “I’ll do it.” 

Unlike those who always looked shocked—her father, the butcher, Magnus on occasion—when she rushed in, the goddess just smiles. “You are fine with being a Guardian of Time? You will not be able to rest in the afterlife until your service has finished.” 

She nods and she does not shake anymore. “I’ll do it,” she repeats.

It is like the warmth that had been previous filling her shifts into light and she feels _radiant_. A blessing no doubt that fills her and lifts her soul until it sings. Desperation and grief emptying out of her as her blood did before only to be replaced by the light of the goddess. Another kiss brushes her forehead, softer than the one before. 

“Thank you, Julia. You will be amazing.” 

**Author's Note:**

> AKA this is an AU based on a couple things:  
> 1) there is usually a companion goddess of time to fate so @ griffin where's my time goddess at  
> 2) kravitz and julia now work together because they're both trying to fix the natural order and It Is Good  
> 2b) they fought over who got to go to refuge because lbr sure they all died a lot but that was all time corruption  
> 3) the possible complication of the void fish and disrupting fate/time backlash?   
> 4) Julia Deserves Better   
> 5) Guardian of Time Julia and Guardian of Fate Magnus together again (with kravitz awkwardly finishing the trio)


End file.
